Views on Foster Care and Adoption in North Carolina
^ Sponsored by the NC Division of Social Services and the Family^nd Children's Resource Program ^
Permanence for older youth in foster care
Permanence . We talk about it all the
time in the foster care system. It's in
our laws. It's in our policy. It's dis¬
cussed in court and in case planning.
At the same time, foster care's rela¬
tionship with permanence is a little
strange. In a way, they're opposites. If
you're in foster care, you do not have
permanence, at least not from a legal
standpoint.
Yet foster care is a road to permanence for
many children, whether that means return¬
ing home to their families, adoption, or
something else.
Permanence is something we all
need to survive and thrive.
This is true even for older youth
in foster care. Like all teens, these
young people are on the cusp of
independence. Many yearn to live
on their own. But they need endur¬
ing connections to people who
will always be there for them just
as much as younger children. The need for
belonging and support is lifelong.
That's why, in this issue of Fostering Per¬
spectives, we focus on finding permanence
for older youth in foster care.
Permanence
has a huge
influence on a
young person's
sense of self,
well-being, and
the trajectory
their lives.
In This Issue ...
NC Permanency Efforts to Know about . 3
Facts about Reinstatement of Parental Rights . 4
Lifebooks: A Resource Long Past Age 18 . 5
CFTs: A Place to Talk about Tomorrow . 7
What Is "Fostering Health NC"? . 8
Health Care for Youth Who've Aged Out . 8
The Special Adult in My Life . 9
My Transition to Adulthood . 10
All about the CARS Agreement . 1 1
Adult Adoption and My Journey to Forever . 12
We can all take steps to
promote permanence
First, let's be clear: if you are a foster parent or kinship care pro¬
vider, you are already doing a lot to promote permanence for youth
in foster care.
Yes, foster care is temporary. But it is not a limbo where noth¬
ing happens. Foster care can be a place that gives kids a chance to
get their feet under them — developmen tally, emotionally, cognitively,
physically — while their families work to resolve their challenges.
The care and support you provide, the teaching and nurturing
you do, the way that you understand and respond to children's
behaviors — these things make a profound difference in children's
lives, especially because they can make permanence easier to achieve.
Permanence
"Permanence" can have different meanings. When people use the
word about children and youth in foster care, usually they are talk¬
ing about legal permanence, which North Carolina child welfare
policy defines as a lasting, nurturing, legally secure relationship with
at least one adult that is characterized by mutual commitment.
"Legally secure" in this case means a placement in which the
direct caregiver has the legal authority to make parental decisions
on behalf of the child or youth (NCDSS. 2014a). Legal permanence is
about reunification, adoption, guardianship, or assignment of legal
custody. These are the types of arrangements the federal Adoption
and Safe Families Act seeks to achieve by requiring states to conduct
permanency hearings within a year after a child enters foster care.
There are two other important kinds of permanence we should
keep in mind, however. continued next page
Achieving Legal Permanence for Children and Youth
in Foster Care: How Is North Carolina Doing?
As Figure 1 shows, most
children in foster care in
our state attain legal perma¬
nence through reunification
with their families, adoption,
or guardianship.
But, as Figure 2 shows,
when children are older than
age 12 when they enter fos¬
ter care, things arc different.
These young people are as
likely as other kids in care
to achieve reunification. But
when that doesn't happen,
chances arc poor they will be
adopted or find a guardian.
Instead, they often leave
foster care through some
"other" means, a category
that includes emancipa¬
tion ("aging out" at age 18),
transfer to another agency,
and runaway. Emancipations
account for most exits in the
"other" category.
In other words, our system
often fails to achieve legal
permanence for children
who are older than age 12
when they enter foster care.
Exits from Foster Care in NC in 201 2
Figure 1
Other
12.0%
All Children
Adoption
26%
46.3%
Reunification
4 1 5.3%
Guardianship
Children Who Were Older than
Age 12 When They Entered Care
, Other
40.5%
Adoption
3.4%
X 9.1%
Guardianship
Source: USDHHS, 2014
